Rail and bus worries raised in Lostwithiel

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Cornish Guardian:

Concerned Lostwithiel residents have organised a Transport Users' Group to discuss the town's isolation from public transport networks.

Many through trains are not scheduled to stop at Lostwithiel station, and the impending reduction in London to Cornwall services could cause further reductions in rail transport.

Irregular bus services through the town make it difficult for patrons to make daily return journeys, leaving many who rely on public transport in Lostwithiel isolated.

Working with the Lostwithiel Town Forum, John and Jill Scott have produced a report which will be discussed on Monday, October 1, at the Community Centre, beginning at 8pm.

Mr Scott said: "The existing services do not meet the needs of either local residents or the many potential visitors to the town. The rail and bus companies concentrate on the bigger centres and completely ignore the needs of small towns and rural areas.

"For the many local residents who are dependent on public transport this is a disaster. Local businesses will suffer from a lack of visitors to the town."

[SandTEngineer]

....mmm.  M-F 15 Down and 13 Up Services spread evenly throughout the day.  That's not bad for a fairly small town   I can think of another place that would love that sort of service

[vacman]

....mmm.  M-F 15 Down and 13 Up Services spread evenly throughout the day.  That's not bad for a fairly small town   I can think of another place that would love that sort of service

Other than peak times you very rarely pick up more than 2 or 3 passengers at Lostwithiel so surely its a case of "use it or lose it".

[Kernow Otter]

Just back from said meeting.  Very well attended, say 40 people, however the vocal majority were of a certain age who wanted the town to lobby for a plethora of bus services, to places including Liskeard, Plymouth, St Austell, and Truro.  When it was pointed out that there was a fairly regular train service to those destinations, it transpired that a bus was preferable as it was covered by the concession card and free.

It got me to wondering what the usage of our station would be if the concessions card were valid on the train as well.

Train related issues were much less discussed but included the lack of ticket sales, (and hence no accurate station useage figures), the lack of rolling stock, (sprinters), the frequency of STOPPING trains, and the effect that the mainline summer specials to Newquay have on the other mainline services.

Oddly, I came away with the impression that Cross Country and their 'vomiters' are more highly regarded than FGW^▸ (First Great Western).

[grahame]

It got me to wondering what the usage of our station would be if the concessions card were valid on the train as well.

I rather suspect that if senior concessions (free travel at the point of use within England / Wales / Scotland) were provide equally on rail to road, you would see major flow changes leading to a need to strengthen many services to avoid severe overcrowding.   It's interesting to see comment in just about the next post made - at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=6859.msg118475#msg118475 - concerning the strengthening of Heart of Wales services where some senior free travel is available at certain times of year / day = see (Welsh) and (English) detail

Where buses and trains provide alternative travel between the same two places, I would suspect that "free" rail travel to seniors would also result in a drop in bus passenger numbers, perhaps to the detriment of the frequency of the bus service.

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

I cannot see free rail use being made available to holders of concessionary bus passes. However use of a bus pass as a senior rail card giving the 1/3 discount is a possibility as already noted for the experiment on some FGW^▸ (First Great Western) services out of Worcester to the South. In the present and likely continuing economic situation of this country it seems more likely that the free bus pass may be curtailed to save money. It would be interesting to see how the Worcester experiment works out.

[RichardB]

Completely agree.  We're not going to get widespread "free" use of trains with passes in Cornwall or elsewhere.  There's just not the capacity.

I remember the free day out BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) gave to Senior Citizen's Railcard holders in the 70s.  It was a Sunday, I think and I remember a BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news item from a wedged Paddington......

[Bristolboy]

Completely agree.  We're not going to get widespread "free" use of trains with passes in Cornwall or elsewhere.  There's just not the capacity.

I remember the free day out BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) gave to Senior Citizen's Railcard holders in the 70s.  It was a Sunday, I think and I remember a BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news item from a wedged Paddington......

Interestingly I believe off peak rail travel is offered to any Londoners over the age of 60 in the tfl area.

[Kernow Otter]

Interesting question being asked on the back of this meeting, and the WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) chaos. 

Is the resulting pause forced on the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) franchise process likely to lead to an opportunity for the base specification in the Tender Document to be changed ?

Thoughts please ?

[IndustryInsider]

Is the resulting pause forced on the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) franchise process likely to lead to an opportunity for the base specification in the Tender Document to be changed ?

Personally I would doubt it.  That would probably cause more of a delay and that's the last thing the DfT needs!